SDR Common View on Generic Signals for Time Transfer Applications

TL;DR

This paper introduces a versatile SDR-based time transfer system that can operate with any radio signal, offering high precision and improved flexibility, robustness, and security for synchronizing remote clocks.

Contribution

It proposes a novel common view approach using SDR receivers capable of working with any radio signal, enhancing existing time transfer methods.

Findings

Achieves tens of nanoseconds precision in time transfer.

Compatible with any radio signal with sufficient bandwidth.

Offers improved flexibility, robustness, and security.

Abstract

This paper presents a new time transfer system that works with any radio signal with sufficient bandwidth, regardless of its content and modulation, by adopting the common view approach. This system, based on a network client-server architecture with SDR receivers offers a number of advantages. It can compare remote atomic clocks or disseminate reference time scales to end users with precision at the level of tens of nanoseconds. Its improved features in terms of flexibility, robustness, reliability, and security will potentially make positive contributions in the field of time transfer, as an alternative or complement to existing methods.